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2020-12-09 Minutes Meeting of the Board of Trustees Wednesday, December 9, 2020 Brockway Memorial Library Reference Room The meeting called to order at 8:30 a.m. Present were Michelle Brown, Library Director, President, Kathleen Redmond, President, Christine Gay, Vice President, Cheryl Gowing, Laura Farley, and John Camp, Secretary. Public Comment: None Guests: None 1. Approval of the Minutes of the March meeting: Ms. Gowing moved to approve the minutes; Ms. Gay seconded. The motion passed. 2. Community Alliance Report: Ms. Redmond attended the December 2nd Community Alliance Meeting via Zoom and presented the report. a. Any organization receiving a 2020 Alliance grant must complete the required six -month report form by January 15, 2021. The form can be downloaded from the Alliance website and is to be submitted to info@miamishoresalliance.com by no later than January 15, 2021. 3. Financial Report: Ms. Brown announced that there is nothing to report because it is so early in the fiscal year. She also noted that there have been no unforeseen expenses to date. 4. Circulation Report: For the month of November, the Library circulated 1,882 items, and 309 holds were placed. The total circulations were 327 greater than the prior month, but there were 172 fewer holds than the prior month. Total circulations for November were 2,567 fewer than November 2019. There were 48 digital check-outs and 68 unique searches on Ancestry. The Library added 109 adult items, 45 children’s items, and 22 media items. Three outdated books were weeded from the collection. Staff repaired 51 items. The Library added 11 patrons in November 2020, and the total patron count is currently 6,474. Because of ongoing COVID restrictions, the Library did not digitally archive any material in November. 5. Old Business: a. Partnership Policy: The revised partnership policy was circulated. Ms. Gowing moved to approve the policy as amended, and Ms. Farley seconded the motion. The motion passed. b. Mission Statement: A draft of the amended mission statement was circulated and Proposed Revision C. Mr. Camp proposed further revisions, and the matter was tabled until the January Board meeting. 6. Other Items a. Re-opening: The Library has received very positive feedback from patrons regarding the re- opening. The Library is averaging 30-35 patrons per day, with the most at any one time being 10, and has not reached capacity on any of the days it has been open to the public. The study room has been well used. The current policy has been to limit patrons to two hours in the study room, but there has not been anyone waiting to access the study room to date, so the Library has been flexible in how long patrons may use the space. Ms. Brown reported that the staff is very comfortable with how the re-opening is going. 2 There was a discussion regarding whether the Library will remain open in the light of the rise in COVID cases in Florida in recent weeks. Ms. Brown stated that the Library continues to follow the re-opening procedures and protocols used by the Miami-Dade County Public Library System and receive guidance from the Village Manager, the Village Attorney and the Chief of Police and that, at present, there are no plans to modify the re-opening schedule and procedures put in place in November. b. Ms. Brown announced that the Library’s late fee policy had been suspended in 2019 and questioned whether such fees should be reinstated in 2021. A discussion was had regarding whether the Library should eliminate late fees altogether, as some other libraries have, but that issue was tabled for further discussion in the future. c. A discussion was had regarding whether renewal fees for non-resident patrons should be postponed to account for the COVID-related library closure in 2019. The Board unanimously agreed that they should be postponed. d. Mr. Camp pointed out that a number of the parking meters adjacent to the Library building that serve as a revenue source are in need of repair. e. It was previously decided that, because of the pandemic, there would be no holiday breakfast this year; however, because the Board wanted to do something to express its appreciation to the staff, it agreed to provide a lunch to the staff on site on December 15th. 7. Announcements: a. Yoga on the Library Lawn is scheduled for Saturdays during the month of January, beginning January 9th. b. Virtual Village Kids’ Book Club: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens -- December 16, 3:30pm (registration required) c. Virtual Brockway Reading Circle: My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrik Backman – December 14, 7:00pm d. For the Christmas and New Year’s Day holidays, the Library is closing at noon on December 24th and December 31st and will be closed on December 25th and January 1st. e. The next scheduled Board meeting is Wednesday, January 13, 2021 at 8:30am. 8. Public Comment: None 9. Adjournment: Motion to adjourn made by Ms. Gay; seconded by Ms. Farley. Meeting was adjourned at 9:44am. Respectfully submitted by John Camp, Secretary.